Kidnappers Run Out On Ransom Scheme

MIAMI BEACH — Police were trying to find four kidnappers Saturday who apparently foiled their ransom scheme by trying to find a way to return their hostage without repercussions.

They sent Miami Beach police to a Broward County motel room for a note that would lead them to Tatiana Cecilia Perez. When officers opened the motel room door Friday they found the 2-year-old instead. She was unharmed and alone, said Miami Beach Police Chief Kenneth Glassman.

''We believe they were trying to return the child, but didn't know quite how to do it,'' said Glassman.

The ordeal began Tuesday when the suspects, dressed in fatigues and wielding automatic weapons, stormed the Perez home on Miami Beach.

Tatiana's father, Hernan, was beaten with a baseball bat. The men forced the girl and her mother, Martha, into the family's Mercedes Benz and drove off.

Mrs. Perez was returned to her home unharmed Wednesday when the kidnappers began negotiating for the ransom. At one point, they demanded about $100,000 for the girl, Glassman said.

Perez told the kidnappers he had called police, and the FBI became involved in the case. After three days of sporadic contact with the men, police were telephoned and told to go to the Ocean Mile Motor Lodge in Fort Lauderdale.

Police arrived at 3:15 p.m. and found Tatiana. She was examined at Mount Sinai Medical Center, a spokesman said.

Glassman said one of the suspects, Carlos Montini, 26, said he had lost $60,000 through a business venture with Perez.

He reportedly put the money in an escrow account as an investment in an Argentine restaurant Perez

planned to open in south Miami. But Perez decided the venture would not be profitable.

Police believe that was the motive for the kidnapping because Montini asked Perez for the $60,000 and Perez told police he did not control the escrow account and never handled the money.

Glassman said the identities of the other three suspects had not been determined.